Thread: Letter Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor June 15, 2006 for S2611

United States Senate (Letterhead)

- MARK PRYOR
ARKANSAS
257 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510 (202) 224-2353
COMMITTEES: COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION
HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
500 PRESIDENT CLINTON AVENUE SUITE 401 LITTLE ROCK, AR 72201 (501) 324-6336 TOLL FREE: (877) 259-9602 http://pryor.senate.gov

SELECT COMMITTEE ON ETHICS

June 15,2006

SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Dear Dixie (hahaha)

Thank you for contacting me about the Senate Immigration Bill. I appreciate hearing from you.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 is one of the most important, complicated, and controversial bills we have considered in this Congress. Over the course of two weeks, the Senate debated and voted on about thirty amendments. Nearly every amendment drew bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, and genuine debate. Very few issues were decided by party line votes. This is the way the Senate ought to conduct its work. It doesn't happen often enough.

The bill passed the Senate by a 62-36 vote, again with bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition. I voted for the bill. It is rare that any major piece of legislation comes for a vote in a form that I can completely support or completely oppose. That is the nature of passing legislation in a two-party system, and the Immigration Bill was no exception. The amendments we passed improved the bill enough that I thought we should send it to conference with the House, knowing that the House bill is far more restrictive and any House-Senate compromise will move in that direction.

Among the amendments we passed were one that lowered the cap on guest workers from 325,000 to 200,000 and eliminated the potential automatic annual increases of 10, 15, or 20 Percent that were in the main bill. Another amendment disqualifies illegal immigrants from the ability to gain legal status if they have committed one felony or three misdemeanors, or other serious crimes. The Senate also directed the Department of Homeland Security to build at least 370 miles of fencing in the most populous areas along the border, and to install vehicle barriers in many places. Also, an amendment was passed which required that those seeking to become citizens must demonstrate knowledge of the English language and American history and government. To address the costs that illegal immigrants impose on local governments, a $750 fee was imposed for each family seeking citizenship which provides for health and educational costs incurred at the local level, and a $500 fee that would directly fund border security improvements. Strict new requirements on employers were also imposed so that they must verify that their workers are here legally, with strict penalties for those who don't. I voted for all these provisions.

The Senate bill increases the number of border patrol agents by 2,400 each year through 2011. It provides for electronic and aerial monitoring of the border as well as fencing, and many other resources that will help our border patrol agents. The annual spending bills we are working on will also provide more funding to help secure the border. You may have heard that we are sending National Guard troops on short deployments to the border to help border patrol agents as well.

Some people in Congress have said we need to secure the border first, and then decide what to do about the 11 million illegal immigrants already here. I haven't heard a good reason why we can't or shouldn't do both at the same time. The Senate bill takes this comprehensive approach to
addressing all the immigration issues simultaneously. It creates a guest worker program and an agricultural worker program that will provide labor in many industries that simply can't find enough workers. For example, when fruit goes unpicked because an Arkansas grower can't find anyone to do it, it not only costs him money, it is bad for his trees. I have heard from many in the state that say we need these programs, that a company going out of business for lack of workers hurts all employees, no matter where they were born.

The Senate bill provides that anyone in the country illegally for less than two years will be deported. Anyone here illegally from two to five years must go to the border and then apply for the guest worker program. Anyone who has been here over five years is given a path to citizenship provided they pay back taxes, pass a background check, pay a $2,000 fine, and wait for several years. Many call this amnesty. While it doesn't meet the definition in the dictionary, I understand their point. The bill changes the penalty for many people from deportation to a $2,000 fine, plus other fees such as the $750 that helps reimburse local governments for their costs and the $500 for border security I already mentioned. This is more like a receiving a fine and probation than amnesty. The alternative would be like trying to round up the population of Ohio and deporting all of them. That is 11 million people. I believe that the new requirements on employers to make sure they are not hiring illegals, along with the improved system for identifying undocumented workers, will cut down on the supply of jobs here for them. The improvements in the bill for border security will also help stop them from coming.

In the past, America has received several waves of immigrants, and there was usually resistance to them just as now. In New York city in the 19th Century, signs in shop windows advertising a job opening often said No Irish Need Apply. We have gotten past that stage as a nation, largely because the waves of immigrants slowed enough that the newest ones had a chance to learn the language, go from poor to not-so-poor, and begin to contribute to the community and the country. I note that ten percent of the servicemen and women deployed overseas are Hispanic. The Senate bill that was passed should slow the current wave. It recognizes both the difficulty in identifying and deporting all immigrants who are here illegally, as well as the contributions many of them already make here. It deports some, penalizes others, but allows those who are already helping the economy and the nation to meet requirements allowing them to stay. Those who stay will not have to compete with more and more new arrivals for the ability to pull themselves up the first rungs of the ladder as their predecessors from around the world have before them. That is the goal of the Senate bill, but it is far from perfect. Any bill coming out of the House-Senate conference will be significantly different, and I will evaluate it on its own merits.

Thank you again for contacting me about these issues. I welcome your input, and I assure you that I will keep your views in mind in future debates and discussions about U.S. immigration policy. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my office again about this or any other matter of concern to you.

Sincerely,
~~ ~'Pt/.n
Mark Pryor

P.S. Due to increased security precautions, mail delivery to the U.S. Senate may be unpredictably delayed. Such delays often hinder my ability to respond to concerned Arkansans as quickly as I would like. I appreciate your patience and apologize for any delay in my response.

I can't use profanity here right? Well, what a bunch of garbage. I hate being reminded of that stupid bill of theirs. So complicated they would never enforce it. I see fraudulent papers just a flying all over the country for one thing. Just enforce the borders and go after the employers and see what happens naturally.

I guess he didn't know that we have to consult with mexico before building a fence, that when most come forward to pay the back taxes that they will actually get a refund and didn't bother to tell all the other bad stuff in the bill. I don't remember anything in the bill that said anyone would be deported. I am pretty sure that it actually says that they would have to leave if they have been here less than a 1 year, meaning leave on their own? I don't remember hearing or reading anything about deportation.

Looks like you'll have to write again. Blah blah blah off with his pumpkin!

"The Senate bill provides that anyone in the country illegally for less than two years will be deported. Anyone here illegally from two to five years must go to the border and then apply for the guest worker program. Anyone who has been here over five years is given a path to citizenship provided they pay back taxes, pass a background check, pay a $2,000 fine, and wait for several years."

Lets get this straight..If you have broken the law for a longer period of time you are rewarded. Another thing he doesnt explain."fine, and wait for several years". Do you believe they wait in Mexico No they get what they want, to stay in this country.

Remember in November!

I think we should grade his letter and send it back.

Dixie

B.S.